ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday vowed to convey the recommendations of the Parliamentary Forum on Energy and Economy to the highest echelons of the government.

“Do not stop your work merely at discussing the energy and economy crises. Provide me with practical recommendations and I promise to take your recommendations to the senior most people at power and finance ministries,” he said while addressing a seminar organised by the forum at the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS).

According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the objective of the seminar was to explore the potential of energy wheeling as a solution to Pakistan’s energy crisis.

In his opening remarks at the occasion, Member National Assembly and co-convenor of the forum, Sher Ali Arbab, said that affordable and reliable electricity was a matter of serious concern for every citizen in Pakistan.

He highlighted the crippling impact of high energy costs on the economy and ordinary people, noting that the energy crisis has led to business closures, factory shutdowns and widespread joblessness.

He urged the experts present at the seminar to come up with solutions that could help Pakistan get out of its intertwined crisis of energy and economy.

Later, Amina Shahab, a researcher at the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) provided the audience a comprehensive overview of energy wheeling, highlighting its regulatory framework, technical challenges, and real-world applications.

“Unless accompanied by multi pronged changes such as grid modernisation, regulatory reforms and the protection of the rights of marginalised consumers, wheeling alone cannot change things for the better in the energy sector,” she said.

Himayatullah Khan, a former adviser to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, explained how energy being generated by 18-megawatt Pehur hydroelectric power project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was being wheeled to various industries in the province.

“This project has been running successfully for the last several years, providing cheap electricity to industries which otherwise might have shut down,” he said but regretted the fact that, other than this small and pilot project, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has failed to allow wheeling across the country even though it approved rules and regulations for it around eight years ago.

A panel discussion on various aspects of wheeling then followed, featuring Tauseef Farooqi (Former Chairman Nepra), Syed Faizan (grid integration expert), Shaheera Tahir (energy systems, PRIED), MPA Sharafat Ali Mian, and Farooq Qurban (Senior Manager, MOD CPPA).

The experts discussed factors critical to it in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2025